Chapter 187 Planning Ahead
Feng Ye's sudden appearance and departure disturbed Qiao Xi's calm heart, and even after a night, the ripples still lingered.
She got up early today, put on her clothes, and stood at the window looking out.
When Shen Han woke up, he found the seat next to him empty, so he opened his eyes to look for her.
He got up and quietly walked to her side, then put his arm around her waist from behind.
Josie leaned on his shoulder.
"What are you looking at?"
Josie stared at the few humans who had just run past. "Humans seem to be the most vulnerable of all animals, but they are also the most adaptable to survival. I thought that after this winter, it would be hard to see any ordinary people alive outside, but I didn't expect there to be quite a few."
Shen Han hugged her tightly, "Those who couldn't adapt were eliminated. Those who remain now will have the ability to withstand extreme cold in the future."
The two did not hug for long, as they were in a hurry to continue their journey.
"Go wash up. I just cooked some noodles. After you're done washing up, we'll head out."
"good."
Shen Han didn't mention the events of last night again. After they finished eating, the two continued their journey to the black market.
In the early spring wilderness, the snow had not yet melted, and the air was still filled with a biting chill. The wheels of vehicles rolled over the frozen ground, making a monotonous sound.
Upon reaching the entrance to an abandoned county town, the road ahead was completely blocked by scattered abandoned vehicles and collapsed walls.
The two had to stop and hide their bicycles behind a broken wall by the roadside, then carefully explored on foot.
Just as I rounded a corner, I heard a suppressed shout and pleading coming from ahead.
Qiao Xi and Shen Han immediately stopped alertly, hiding behind the broken wall and holding their breath.
There were seven or eight ragged, emaciated survivors surrounded by another group of five or six people.
The group was clearly well-equipped and arrogant.
The leader was a woman with short, neat hair, sharp eyes, and even a hint of fierceness. She held a small glass bottle in her hand, inside which swayed a familiar pale blue liquid.
"Speak! Have you ever seen this catalyst? Or do you know where to get it?" The short-haired woman's voice was cold and hard, carrying an undeniable threat.
Upon hearing this, Josie instinctively leaned forward to take a closer look.
The medicine in that bottle, in terms of its color, texture, and unique energy glow, was clearly a product of Fu Jinxing's laboratory!
After a whole winter, these people still hadn't given up searching for them.
Among the surrounded survivors, a middle-aged man who appeared to be the leader trembled with fear and waved his hands repeatedly: "I...I've never seen the real thing...but, but I've heard of it."
"Have you heard of it?" The man next to the short-haired woman stepped forward.
He was tall and imposing, with a calm and collected demeanor. His brows carried the cold shrewdness of someone who had been through countless battles and the confident pressure unique to high-level superhumans. "Tell me everything you've heard. If you dare to utter a single lie, you won't be leaving here alive today."
"No, no! I wouldn't dare lie to you!"
The middle-aged man almost knelt down, his voice trembling with tears, "I can't guarantee whether the news is true or false, it's all hearsay... Before the heavy snow, everyone around here was saying that there was a particularly powerful stronghold in the mountains near Anyue City, and they... they seem to have a way to turn ordinary people into superhumans. We received the news too late, and with the extremely cold weather, we were too afraid to go out, so we waited until the weather warmed up a bit before thinking of trying our luck..."
Anyue City?
Qiao Xi and Shen Han exchanged a glance, understanding each other perfectly.
That was one of the locations she deliberately spread in the first few false messages, which was far from their real base.
After hearing this, the short-haired woman scoffed, her tone filled with disdain and possessiveness: "Don't waste your energy. That catalyst will be ours sooner or later."
The suppressed group remained silent, trembling with fear, and dared not utter another word.
"Boss, shall we go to Anyue City?" the short-haired woman asked the man beside her, turning her head to look at him.
The man's gaze swept over the kneeling survivors, who were terrified out of their wits. After a moment's hesitation, he asked, "Anyue City?"
"Yes, yes, yes! We heard it's Anyue City!" The middle-aged man nodded hurriedly, as if afraid that if he hesitated even for a second, he would lose his life.
"Let's go." The man finally made his decision, his tone calm yet carrying the indifference of someone who decides life and death.
The group came quickly and left just as fast, howling away like hyenas, leaving only a few survivors sprawled on the ground, panting heavily.
Qiao Xi and Shen Han remained hidden in the shadows, motionless, until the group of people completely disappeared at the end of the street.
"Xixi, you're so smart." Shen Han couldn't help but praise her in a low voice, his gaze towards Qiao Xi filled with deep admiration and affection.
If she hadn't been prepared in advance and spread several pieces of information that were difficult to distinguish between true and false to confuse the public, they might have been found long ago, and they wouldn't have had the chance to grow and expand.
"With such a big treasure like this, it's inevitable that others will covet it," Josie sighed.
Since deciding to recruit large numbers of ordinary people and convert them into superhumans, she knew that the base's existence could not be hidden forever.
Since the news is bound to get out sooner or later, it's better for her to take the initiative and guide the conversation, mixing truth and falsehood, to buy the most valuable time for development.
Now, even if those forces search through all the fake locations she has spread out, it will be in vain.
They had already quietly grown stronger during the harsh winter and moved to a more secluded and safer new location.
Nevertheless, the two dared not be careless in the slightest.
They took a huge detour, traveling around the block, and spent several days before finally getting close to the black market in the small town again.
In a relatively safe abandoned building on the outskirts of the black market, the two found a room to rest, changed into more inconspicuous, dusty clothes, and put on two ordinary masks that were completely different from their previous ones.
Shen Han has an angry-looking Vajra face, while Qiao Xi has a playful Monkey King face.
Once everything was ready, the two of them re-entered the chaotic black market.
As the two slowly walked inside, they immediately sensed that the atmosphere in the black market was even more tense than the last time they had been there.
Several groups of people who were clearly not there to do business were scattered along the sides of the passage and among the stalls, their eyes like searchlights, carefully scrutinizing everyone who entered the black market.
Their clothing varied, but the supernatural energy emanating from them and their sharp, vigilant aura indicated that they came from some organized force.
Shen Han felt a chill run down his spine and instinctively tightened his grip on Qiao Xi's hand.
Instead of taking her directly to the black market tyrant, Scorpion, he turned and pulled her into a nearby tea shop that looked fairly clean.
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